The funding aims to assist companies in easing the impact of market volatility and support the Irish food and drink industry. The €1.6m is available to Bord Bia this year to provide consumer and market insight, deepen customer engagement, extend market reach and address marketing challenges.

“Well planned trade missions demonstrate to potential customers our understanding of their markets and customers and our firm commitment to providing high-quality food and drink products meeting the highest standards of safety and traceability and produced from sustainable resources,” Minister Creed told the meeting in Gormanston, Co Meath. “These measures are designed to offer early, effective and timely supports to help food companies to sustain and diversify business at a time of great uncertainty.”

Speaking after the first all-island sectoral dialogue on Brexit, Minister Creed contributions from the participants will inform policy going forward. He also intends to host similar discussions early next year. They build on the all-island civic dialogue hosted by the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs in early November.

“It is so important to listen carefully to the views of those who will be most affected,” Creed said. “And that’s why I encouraged everyone today to give me their own perspectives on how the challenges might be dealt with, both by the sector itself and by the Government.”

He added that the strong attendance demonstrated “not just the level of concern felt about the unique exposure of the agri-food sector to the implications of Brexit, but also the desire to explore potential solutions to the many practical difficulties that we are likely to be presented with as the process unfolds.”

The discussions included a particular focus on trade across the border in Ireland. The short-term effects of the ongoing uncertainty as well as the longer-term challenges in the areas of tariffs and trade, regulations and standards, and border controls and certification were all covered.

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Listen: Creed chairs all-island agri-food Brexit forum